**Bayer says it’s pushing back the closing date of its proposed $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto and that it’s prepared to make additional concessions, including selling its entire vegetable seed business, to win approval from antitrust authorities in the EU, and the U.S.

Bayer originally forecast closing the deal at the beginning of the year, but CEO Werner Baumann tells Agri-Pulse, “Our goal now is to complete the transaction in the second quarter of 2018.”

**President Trump increased pressure on Canada and Mexico over trade Monday, saying the two could avoid being caught in his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum if they gave ground on a new NAFTA deal.

Trump's planned tariffs have also met resistance from some senior figures in his own Republican Party.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose state of Wisconsin would be hit by proposed European counter-tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcycles, urged the White House not to push ahead with the action.